The name Toorak has become synonymous with wealth and privilege, the suburb long having the reputation of being Melbourne's most elite, and ranking among the most prestigious in Australia. It has the highest average property values in Melbourne, and is one of the most expensive suburbs in Australia. It is also listed as the "highest money-earning suburb" in the country.[2][3]

Located on a rise on the south side (or left bank) of a bend in the Yarra River, Toorak is bordered by South Yarra, at Williams Road on the west, Malvern, at Glenferrie Road on the east, Prahran and Armadale, at Malvern Road to the south and the suburbs of Richmond, Burnley and Hawthorn on the north side of the river. The suburb's main street is considered to be Toorak Road, in which the commercial area of Toorak Village is located.

Toorak is named after Toorak House, the 1849-built residence of James Jackson, a merchant.

Toorak was named after Toorak House, an Italianate residence built by James Jackson, a merchant, in 1849. The name of the house may have originated from Woiwurrung language, with words of similar pronunciation meaning black crow or reedy swamp.[4]

Toorak mansion known as "Chastelton", characteristic of many 1880s Victorian houses built in the area

During the land boom of the 1880s, many large and elaborate mansions were erected in Toorak, often in the Italianate style. Following East Melbourne and then St Kilda, Toorak, along with Brighton, became the new favored location for the wealthy.

The suburb was hit particularly hard by the 1890s economic depression and many wealthy landowners declared bankruptcy and were forced to sell. Nonetheless, the suburb remained and is still Melbourne's home of "old money". In the 1920s, a favored style was Tudor revival.

In the period of post-World War II prosperity, rising standards of living and land values caused Toorak to become highly sought after by a new generation of the wealthy, thought by some to be social climbers and Nouveau riche. For some of these people, the focus was simply to have the postcode of Toorak, which was SE 2 and now 3142. As a result, many of the larger mansions were demolished and large holdings were subdivided to make way for flats, townhouses and apartments.

While large mansions have survived in neighbouring Hawthorn, Kew and Armadale, only a few of the original 19th-century mansions in Toorak remain, due in part to the high land value. Two of the most notable are Illawarra House, which was acquired by the National Trust; and Coonac, the most expensive house in Melbourne.[6] In Toorak, some of the old property names live on as street names or the names of blocks of flats, carved out of or built on their sites.

A study by the Department of Primary Industries revealed the following facts about Toorak:[7]

In Toorak, 29.6 per cent of persons were employed in the industries of finance, property and business services. The Melbourne metropolitan average is 14.6 per cent.

The proportion of Toorak residents aged 15 and over with a Bachelor's degree or higher is 31.0 per cent. The Melbourne metropolitan average is 13.4 per cent.

Toorak has the highest percentage of children attending non-government schools in Melbourne.

There are very few infants and toddlers in Toorak. The proportion of the Toorak population who are infants or toddlers (those aged up to 4 years of age) is 3.8 per cent. The Melbourne metropolitan average is 6.9%.

Toorak has an unusual mix of high, low and medium-density housing, due to intense subdivision of larger lots in the 1880s, 1920s and 1960s. The predominant housing in Toorak (42.1%) is apartments, particularly walk-up flats.[8]

Single-family detached homes are also prevalent (29.6%). Some of these homes are in the form of traditional mansions or newer large residences on significant-sized estates, owned by Melbourne's wealthy and social elite. The architectural style of the mansions is predominantly Italianate and colonial. The premier residential streets of Toorak are generally considered by local real estate agents to be St. George's Road, Lansell Road, Hopetoun Road, Albany Road and Clendon Road. It is not unusual for Toorak houses to have extensive facilities, such as swimming pools and tennis courts behind solid gates and high walls to preserve the privacy of the residents.

There are also extant stands of attached housing (13.5%), including terraces, which were traditionally fashionable with the middle class and later gentrified.

Saint John's Anglican Church, an 1862 Gothic Revival bluestone church, designed by William Wardell, dominates the skyline of Toorak, with a large tower including a peal of bells and a distinctive sandstone broach spire. Saint John's, Toorak is one of the most popular wedding venue churches in Australia.

The most popular form of transport in Toorak is the automobile. CityLink runs along north eastern Toorak, though there are no interchanges within the suburb, although there is access to the freeway via MacRobertson Bridge and interchanges at Burnley. Main arterials running north-south are Williams Road (at the eastern boundary), Grange Road, Orrong Road, St Georges Road and Kooyong Road. The east-west arterials include Alexandra Avenue (at the northern boundary), Toorak Road (which runs mid way through the suburb) and Malvern Road (at the southern boundary). Alexandra Avenue becomes St Georges Road and both along with Grange Road feed onto the MacRobertson Bridge, Toorak's main river crossing. Toorak's road planning is an example of street hierarchy. As a result, there are numerous quiet pedestrian streets. However, traffic congestion is an increasing problem along Toorak Road and Williams Roads. There is limited street parking along the main roads with just a couple of multi-storey car parks and parking lots within proximity of the main Toorak Road shopping strip. There are no level crossings in Toorak. There is a popular culture perception of Sport utility vehicle as status symbol (controversial for their luxury use, rather than for their off-road abilities)[9] and this has been associated with the suburb of Toorak, such that in popular Australian culture, terms such as Toorak tractor, Toorak taxi, Toorak tank, or Toorak truck have become well established in Australian slang as pejoratives. An example of this was an episode of the popular program Top Gear Australia, aired on SBS TV, in which the presenters, tongue-in-cheek, drove a $200,000 tractor along Toorak Road.[10]